One of the pluses of Julia’s piecework technique is that all of the royal icing parts can be made well in advance and stored until assembly-time on cookies. Another plus: The pieces can be arranged and rearranged to your heart’s
As noted elsewhere, Julia’s piecework technique, which was used to create this dimensional snowdrop cookie, leads to so much design flexibility and versatility. Just by rearranging the individual royal icing pieces (flowers, leaves, and so forth), you can create so
Here’s a side view of Julia’s hibiscus cookies, just to demonstrate how truly dimensional they are. Get a load of the central pistils! They’re made entirely of piped royal icing, yet look so realistic. To find out how Julia piped
Making these hyper-realistic hibiscus cookies is a bit like taking a trip to a tropical paradise without ever leaving the comfort of the kitchen. These cookies may look challenging (and, admittedly, they are), but you too can make them, thanks
Comprised entirely of contoured royal icing transfers, these tropical hibiscus cookies are obviously quite delicate. But that doesn’t mean you need to treat them with kid gloves once you’re done making them. That’s right – though they are designed to
As you can see in this vertical view, Julia’s plumeria cookies look pleasing from all angles – one of the major pluses of her trademark piecework technique! Because this technique builds dimension through the layering of individual royal icing pieces,
Admittedly, Julia took a risk with this cookie. Just take a look at the small stem-lets to which each flower or bud is attached. They were piped with the equivalent of a PME #00 tip and required ultra-precise placement to
There are so many details on Julia’s plumeria cookies, and it’s those fine points that make these cookies so lifelike. First, every royal icing element was contoured, as a stem, leaf, or petal would be in nature. Each piece was
When Julia first decided to make these plumeria cookies, she wasn’t quite sure how to approach them. After all, she doesn’t live in the tropics and had no real plumeria to go by. So how did she puzzle her way
In 2019, Julia embarked on her third teaching expedition aboard one of Creative Cookier’s famous cookie cruises. The theme was “Passage to India”, and Julia chose to replicate in royal icing two flowers that have special significance in the Indian
A minor digression to point out the impact of prop and background selection when taking photographs . . . Elsewhere in this gallery, Julia shot these same stunning cookies on a multicolor background of pink, purple, blue, and electric green.
Let’s zoom in a bit on the lovely lotus flowers that Julia created for Creative Cookier’s 2019 cookie cruise, just so you can better take in all of their glorious details. Once again, Julia relied on the piecework technique, meaning
Once again, let’s move closer to one of the lotus cookies that Julia made for Creative Cookier’s 2019 cookie cruise. One of the beauties of using royal icing transfers is that, once dry, they can hover above or extend over
Wondering how Julia put together this pink lotus so perfectly? Basically, she took her time with it! Each petal was piped over a template to ensure some uniformity in size and shape; then the petals, while still wet, were shaped
Like the lotus, the marigold is a popular flower in India, believed to have auspicious and protective powers. It is widely cultivated there to make garlands particularly for decorations at weddings, religious events, and festivals. Given the cultural significance of
Okay, let’s explore the details of these royal icing marigolds. Everything you see is royal icing, either individually piped or hand-shaped to create the various flower parts. Wait – hand-shaped? How can that be? Isn’t royal icing only piped? No,
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